Wuchang: Fallen Feathers was announced back in 2021. Developed by Leenzee and published by 505 Games, this new Soulslike action RPG launches today for PlayStation 5, PC, Xbox Series X/S, and Game Pass. So if you already have a subscription, you can play it now.
When I previewed Wuchang at Summer Games Fest last month, I described it as a wildly addictive game. After receiving a review code earlier this month and spending over 20 hours in the game, I wanted to revisit my original statement to see if it still sticks. Let’s discuss this further and explain what you can expect if you play this game.
Wuchang: Fallen Feathers takes place in Shu during the late Ming dynasty. The story revolves around Bai Wuchang, a female pirate suffering from amnesia and a mysterious illness known as the Feathering Disease. This unique disease makes its victims crazy and slowly turns them into monsters. As war continues to ravage the lands and the disease spreads, Wuchang embarks on a quest to recover her memory and learn more about her evolving condition.
Most of the story is told through interactions you can have with other characters while exploring the world. Some dialogue conversations are meaningful because they unlock items and reveal pieces of Wuchang’s backstory. Other interactions with horrific creatures, regular people, and crazed, disease-stricken individuals are more hostile and immediately throw you into situations where you’ll have to defend yourself. Many can tell you are infected with the feathering disease, which makes every dangerous encounter feel like it could be your last.
As you continue to familiarize yourself with this corrupted world, shrines and altars are located in key areas and serve as save checkpoints. When you access one of these sacred objects, performing a blood offering is the key to activating it. These shines are especially helpful, allowing you to respawn at them anytime after getting killed, but the same enemies you killed before in that region return too. This adds to the challenge barrier and doubles down on teaching you how to play better to survive. These are also great areas to stop and learn more about the world’s lore, change Wuchang’s outfit, and determine which equipment to use for your next battle. Earning points and leveling up abilities is also straightforward, like most RPGs.
Soulslike fans who love combat won’t be disappointed with Wuchang: Fallen Feathers. You’ll gain access to several weapons, including longswords, dual blades, spears, axes, and one-handed swords. Each weapon has a status attack measured by strength, agility, magic, and feathering. Certain weapons also have special attacks and can be equipped with unique items to aid power and effectiveness. Next to your health bar, the stamina bar is the most important meter worth paying attention to. Tiring out easily after spending a ton of energy executing a move or evading an attack is the quickest way to get yourself killed. While parrying is common in most action games like this, Wuchang uses a different mechanic called shimmering. This is fundamentally timing your dodges at the right time to avoid attacks, and successfully doing so builds up your gauge to do magic spell attacks more easily.
One of the most significant components of making an awesome soulslike game is having challenging, ruthless bosses to fight. So far, Wuchang: Fallen Feathers has delivered in this category as I’m having a ton of fun studying enemy patterns and finding precise ways to defeat them. I will admit that getting your ass kicked multiple times builds character, but also determination, and there is no better feeling than when you finally defeat a boss. You gain a valuable piece of their power, which can be used as magical spells in future fights.
In addition to this, every time you die, your madness grows, and once it reaches its peak level, your inner demon emerges and can attack both you and nearby enemies. This cool mechanic can sometimes work to your advantage with other enemies, except for the main boss battles. There is one ally I called upon for help in a boss battle very early in the game, but for the most part, these fights are meant to be singular experiences that will put you to the test. Let me be very clear: I don’t consider myself an experienced Soulslike gamer. While I have played Elden Ring and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, I was most impressed by The First Berserker: Khazan and would put Wuchang in the same category as that game. If you’re a fan of the genre, then you have a good idea of what to expect and will most likely enjoy what this game has to offer.
Regarding graphics and performance, Wuchang: Fallen Feathers looks great on the base PlayStation 5 console. The three main performance mode options are Quality mode, which prioritizes visual fidelity at 30 fps; Balanced mode, which offers 40 fps with a 120 Hz refresh rate; and Performance mode, which targets 60 fps. PS5 Pro owners get more frames per second and sharper visuals. In all honesty, PC is the best way to experience this game. I can confirm this after playing PC demos during GDC and Summer Game Fest earlier this year. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, as you can max out your PC system even more than a console, but I recommend checking out what Digital Foundry has to say, as they are the real experts on this topic.
I’ve only just begun to scratch the surface of what Wuchang: Fallen Feathers has to offer, but I can confirm that I’m having an awesome time. I have been curious about this game since it was revealed years ago, and I’m impressed so far. I believe the inner demon system, exhilarating combat, and the main protagonist being afflicted with a disease marked as both a gift and a curse, make it feel like a somewhat unique experience. If you are a diehard Soulslike fan looking for another title to sink your teeth into, this might be exactly what you need. Stay tuned for more of my thoughts on the game in the future once I’ve finally completed it.
Score So Far:
This review was based on a digital copy of Wuchang: Fallen Feathers for the PlayStation 5 provided by 505 Games.
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